Pope presses migrant campaign, urges leaders to work for all

BOLOGNA, Italy – Pope Francis is pressing his campaign for Europe to open its doors migrants, visiting a refugee welcome center in northern Italy and insisting that politicians work for those most marginalized — not special interests.

Francis visited the northern city of Bologna on Sunday, as famous for its food as its leftist politics. During a day full of speeches, Francis spent an hour meeting with migrants, patiently posing for selfies at a refugee welcome center on the outskirts of town.

He drew cheers when he ad-libbed that he knew they were desperate to have ID documents, and again when he insisted that each one of them had a name and a story — and were not just a statistic. He led hundreds in prayer for those who died on the journey.